High school roundup: King off to blistering start in district play

NEIGHBORHOOD HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP

Published 5:00 am, Thursday, October 16, 2008

Thanks to Ike, C.E. King is a football team playing a basketball schedule. That hasn’t stopped the Panthers from rolling up wins.

King completed a stretch of three games in less than two weeks with a 35-14 win over North Forest last Friday to improve to 3-0 in District 19-4A, setting up a potential championship run. The Panthers have Kingwood Park and Goose Creek Memorial next before closing the season with pivotal games against Dayton and Crosby.

“What we’re trying to do is be sure that our focus stays on our next game with the kids, but the schedule does play out that way and if things work out the way it looks on paper, that would be huge,” King coach Mike Malkowski said.

“But right now we’re really just pleased to have played three games in 10 days and come out of it 3-0 and, at this point and time, healthy. That’s really been critical.”

The play of quarterback Josh Williams was critical for King’s success against North Forest. He supplied four scores in the first half, rushing for the first three and hitting Alvester Alexander with a 33-yard TD pass just before the break.

“The last two games he has really started operating our offense extremely well,” Malkowski said. “He really looks comfortable. This is the way he finished last year when we won three of our last four games.”

As happy as Malkowski was with Williams, he was happier with his defense, which held North Forest to 184 total yards (65 on 33 rushes) and provided five turnovers.

Cornerback Josh Harris recorded eight tackles and one interception, defensive end Omar Ruiz had five tackles, two sacks and a fumble recovery and linebacker Ryan Layton chipped in with six tackles.

Basketball season approaching

North Shore coach Allison Campbell will have the pleasant problem of figuring out who will make the varsity cut in a program loaded with talent when the girls basketball season tips off with practice Wednesday. Boys teams open Oct. 28.

“It’s weird,” Campbell said. “I’m really, really ready and I’m excited, but it feels weird because in some ways I don’t think we’re ready because of the two weeks we missed (with Ike).”

With that time lost, Campbell will be working hard to solidify her roster during the preseason. The Lady Mustangs return five starters, including three-year starting point guard Lauren Flores (5-foot-7), a Texas commit who led the team in points (22.0), assists (5.0) and rebounds (7.5) last season, when they won the District 22-5A championship.

Campbell also plans to bring up two standout freshman, including guard Courtney Williams (6-0), who already is drawing attention from several Big 12 schools.

Because North Shore is in a new district, Campbell’s not exactly sure which teams will be among 21-5A’s best, but says Channelview has good young talent, Baytown Sterling’s always tough and Port Arthur Memorial is ultra-athletic.

“I would hope and think that we will do very well, considering we did well last year and we’re returning all those kids, but I don’t know for sure,” Campbell said.

On the boys side, La Porte is the defending district champion in 22-5A and returns standout power forward Randy Collins (6-4). Deer Park, North Shore and Dobie also made the playoffs last season.

The regular season opens Nov. 10 for the girls and Nov. 17 for boys.

College glance

Senior defensive end Tremaine Johnson played in four of the first give games for the LSU Tigers this season. The former Galena Park standout started in two and recorded nine total tackles (seven assisted), two pass breakups, two pass deflections and one quarterback hurry.

Johnson earned the team’s most improved award during spring ball.

Sophomore cornerback Chykie Brown has played a key role in new Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp’s defense. The North Shore graduate played in the Longhorns’ first five games, recording 17 total tackles (10 solo), four pass breakups and one sack.